ITED 511 - Unit 5

This unit required us to study chapters 3 and 5 which each describe different types of software tools that are available for educational purposes.

In chapter 3, the different types of instructional software functions include: drill and practice, tutorial, simulation, intstructional game, and problem solving. Adult learners will most likely gravitate towards tutorials, simulations, and problem solving software. Tutorials allow you to go at your own pace and essentially act as a human tutor. Simulations can model real or imaginary systems and range from weather simulations to flight simulations to physics simulations and much more. Problem solving software will test and challenge adults to apply their total knowledge towards solving a problem. This will be most helpful for facing real-world situations, which are usually very complex.

In chapter 5, the different types of software tools categories include: materials generators, data colleciton and analysis tools, graphics tools, planning and organizing tools, research and reference tools, and tools that support specific content areas. I feel that all of these categories can and will be used by most adult students. Materials generators allow for the creation of documents and forms and are absolutely necessary for courses requiring writing skills. Data collection and analysis tools are commonly used by teachers to keep up with student progress, but students may also use statistcal packages for mathematical homework or for just evaluating themselves. Graphics tools are most commonly used to illustrate documents and web pages and to create visual data summaries. This is a necessity for presentations where the student needs to provide a visual aid to go along with his/her data. Planning and organizing tools are a must for adults in that they assist adults in organizing their thoughts for writing papers as well as provide a means for keeping up with an advanced schedule, which is usually present in older students. Research and reference tools basically describe the Internet and encyclopedias which are a necessity for information gathering. Finally, tools to support specific content areas are for supporting tasks specific to content areas. Many of these areas are highly advanced in such a way that only adults can efficiently perform them, such as the use of CAD systems and GPS systems.